ode to homemade marshmallows

i finally got around to taking a second go at making my own marshmallows.

my first attempt failed due to a small, insignificant oversight...typical.

so once i figured out that i left a key ingredient out {water!} i was back in business.

i used this easy recipe from smitten kitchen...it really wasn't that hard, just a little time-consuming,

but oh so worth it. most of the time consumption happens while the marshmallows are chilling for a few hours.

contrary to her directions, i scraped the bowl...i couldn't resist! 

but luckily there was no mess at all...the scraping happened pretty easy.

once the marshmallows were chilled in the pan

i carefully removed the entire thing from the pan

because they were incredibly sticky and it was easier

to cut them into square on a cutting board.

my glands have been dreaming of all the possibilities of homemade marshmallows...

though my imagination wasn't too original:

i thought of hot cocoa & smores!

lucky for me we have some delicious norwegian chocolate on hand thanks to this lovely lady,

and i bought the best graham crackers you've ever devoured from this bakery in town.

wishing we could pass out homemade marshmallows for halloween

instead of that store-bought pretend sugar...you know what i'm talking about?

anyway, these marshmallows were easy enough and oh so tasty enough

that i've decided it's strictly homemade 'mallows from here on out in our house.

i'm getting paranoid about traveling & the summer heat

i am having a hard time believing that i leave for oxford in 8 days. 8 days!

most of my time is spent reading reading reading...trying to prepare for

what i've heard could possibly be the most difficult of my summers at school.

there are two other things i'm a bit anxious about:

(1) what if england decides to have record heat this summer {since the rest of the world

has decided to have crazy weather}??? my body really, really, truly doesn't do well with any kind of heat {we hit 90 degrees yesterday and i panicked!}

{2}what's the best way to carry around my laptop and books? backpack? messenger bag? my fave leather bag?

here's how i'm trying to calm my anxieties:

(1) i've become scissor-happy, cutting old jeans that have become frayed at the hem {and i'm no longer so keen on such an exaggerated boot-cut}. i need as much breathing room as possible {even if england doesn't have record heat, i'm prepared for 90 degrees+ here in salt lake city}

(2) first, i decided i needed to make a laptop sleeve since i scratched this laptop up after only having it for a week...turns out just slipping it into my messenger bag isn't enough protection. and so now i am "testing" out all my different bags. i hate using backpacks because i hate the sweaty back result, but they are the most comfortable. i prefer messenger bags, but they can start to really weigh on my shoulder and back if i have to wear it for a long period. what would you take? backpack or messenger bag?

i had a craving to eat something sweet that was stackable : crepes

sunday morning. we get to sleep in. ah, sweet bliss!

and we get to have a very indulgent breakfast together.

i've shared with you before that i imagine heaven to be

a beautiful mountain meadow where i get to ride a white horse

all day every day...i think i'll have to add to my vision of heaven

sweet breakfasts that include creme fraiche.

anyway, i like to bring a bit of heaven into my life here,

so creme fraiche and crepes were on our menu this last sunday.

the recipe:

1 1/4 cup flour

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup whole milk

3 Tbsp butter (or 2 Tbsp ghee)

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla (or almond extract if you're out of vanilla)

whisk it all together. leave no lumps swimming about. you want the batter smooth, smooth, smooth.

then i use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and drip it onto a frying pan over medium heat, then i roll the pan around thinning out the batter as much as possible. (we used to have a "crepe" pan, but it wasn't that great. a frying pan works best for us).

i like my crepes a little crispy, so i wait for some golden brown color to show up before i flip it, using a spatula.

since i usually only cook one crepe at a time, i have to keep the finished crepes hiding under a clean dish towel, stacking them on top of each other. that seems to keep them pretty warm.

then add your fave toppings. some of our faves:

creme fraiche

pure maple syrup

powdered sugar (aka confectioners sugar)

fruit of any kind (strawberries, blueberries, peaches...or all of the above!)

this recipe serves two very hungry adults.

and since we usually totally sugar ourselves out the morning

we have a nice savory balance later in the day.

oh, the food sunday brings us!

enjoy!

{p.s. just found my dream home here}

if i'm not careful my entire house will be filled with different versions of these nightstands...i love them!

i finished my nightstands over the weekend!!!

i'm quite in love with them, and they were super simple.

i could have completed them within two days,

but the schedule didn't allow it, so it took me

a couple of weeks as i worked on them a few minutes

here and a few minutes there.

what do you think?

materials: poplar wood, all-thread, nuts, non-toxic wood stain

tools: power drill, paint brush, wrench

they were so so so easy to make (once i got over my fear of the drill).

would you be interested in a how-to tutorial, or is this pretty obvious?

how i've been enjoying spring, food, and learning how to use cj's power tools

i think i've made more trips to the bakery than i can count,

consumed gingerbread and lemon tarts on many an afternoon.

one of the greatest luxuries in the world: saturday morning breakfast

with the person i love to be with most of all.

our yard finally received much needed care this afternoon

as it looks as if previous renters purposefully filled the flower beds

with rocks and clay and plastic tarpy things to "keep weeds away." oi.

a friend and i decided we wanted to learn how to use power tools

and start building our own furniture...of course we were under

close supervision (by ceej) to make sure we didn't self-destruct.

pretty excited about the nightstands i'm making.

my house is filled with peonies...pink and white fluff everywhere.

i will be sad to leave them for a few days.

ceej and i are off to poulsbo, washington to visit my brother and his family.

ceej and big brother will be skiing mt. st. helens and mt. adams while

i go to see mary poppins with cute little nieces and then i'll watch them

dance in their little town's scandanavian festival.

can't wait for the road trip...ceej and i have been dying to pack up the car

and drive while listening to podcasts and talking, talking, talking.

have a wonderful week!

building an office...

ceej has been helping me in his spare time to build some
furniture for our new office...we're both so busy so it has
been a slow process. but we're hoping to make a lot of
progress this weekend, and my hope is that within the
next couple of weeks we'll have everything put together.
so our weekend will be full of trips to the hardware store,
painting, drilling, assembling, organizing.

hope your weekend has been a productive one so far!

made-by-hand christmas and wishing for days when listening to stories on the radio was such a thrill

is there anything better than knitting by the fire
while listening to a child's christmas in wales or little women?
i could do this forever.

i'm making fingerless gloves for nieces who think the gloves are elegant and pretty,
and a cowl-neck scarf for celia jane because the cold constantly grips her...
and others that i won't mention here to keep some gifts a surprise.

are you making anything by hand for gifting this holiday season?